Roles in Scream, Scooby-Doo, and Five Nights at Freddy’s have made Matthew Lillard an unlikely horror icon. With the sequel to FNaF due this year, one of Lillard’s lesser-known horror films is rattling its chains up the streaming charts. Thirteen Ghosts, a 2001 chiller starring Lillard as a psychic investigator in a house full of — you guessed it — thirteen ghosts is currently at #7 on the free, ad-supported streamer Tubi.
Thirteen Ghosts (or, as it’s sometimes rendered, Thir13en Ghosts, because it was made in 2001) is a remake of 1960’s 13 Ghosts, one of the many films directed by gimmick-happy horror impresario William Castle. The gimmick for 13 Ghosts was that it was shot in “Illusion-O”. Audiences were given “ghost viewer” glasses with one red lens and one blue one; looking through the red lens would render the on-screen ghosts more visible, while the faint-hearted could render them invisible by looking through the blue lens. Thirteen Ghosts homages this by having its characters use special high-tech goggles to see the film’s ghosts. It was produced by Dark Castle Entertainment, a production company set up to remake Castle’s films; it ultimately only produced two (1999’s House on Haunted Hill was the other) before branching out into other fare, including Orphan, Splice, and The Nice Guys.
What Is ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ About?
Thirteen Ghosts stars Lillard as Dennis Rafkin, the psychic assistant to pompous ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus). When a ghost hunt goes sideways, Cyrus is killed, and his mansion is inherited by his nephew, Arthur (Tony Shalhoub, Monk). Recently widowed after a tragic house fire, Arthur moves into the mansion with his two children, Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth, American Pie), and Bobby (Alec Roberts, Traffic), as well as their nanny, Maggie (rapper Rah Digga). With Dennis posing as an electrician to get inside, the family soon learns that the house is a high-tech ghost prison, a la the Ghostbusters containment unit, and it’s full of the deadliest spooks and specters on Earth. Soon, the mysterious “spirit liberator” Kalina Oretzia (Embeth Davidtz, Matilda), also invades the house, looking to free Cyrus’ prisoners — and things start getting really scary. Will anyone escape alive, or is one of the Kriticos family doomed to become the thirteenth ghost?
Thirteen Ghosts was a critical and financial disappointment; it grossed $68 million USD on a $42 million budget, and holds a horrifying 19% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it has become a cult favorite as an embodiment of turn-of-the-century horror, as well as its baroque production design and wacky performances from Lillard and Abraham.
Thirteen Ghosts is now streaming for free on Tubi. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
- Release Date
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October 26, 2001
- Runtime
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91 minutes
- Director
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Steve Beck
- Writers
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Neal Marshall Stevens, Richard D’Ovidio, Todd Alcott, Robb White
- Producers
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Dan Cracchiolo, Gilbert Adler, Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis
